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Chapter 43 - Prisoner
Fairy Tail: Paths of the Soul After a few minutes of walking; or stumbling, through the forest, Amber felt two of the bandits lift her up by the arms and throw her onto a wooden floor. Shelly was thrown beside her, landing with a slight whimper, followed by their belongings. Not that Amber could see any of this; she'd remained blindfolded throughout the journey, and guessed that Shelly had received the same treatment. The wooden floor suddenly lurched, and they began to move. They had been loaded into a cart and where being taken who knows where! Shelly screamed for help, calling to anyone who might be nearby to do something. The bandits laughed, some even called for help along with her. But after a minute it'd stopped being funny to them, and one quick smack was enough to silence her for the rest of the trip. They traveled for a while, neither one really sure for how long. An hour, maybe two, but soon the snapping twigs and crunching leaves of the forest where replaced by the sounds of a horse's hooves on stone, and the ride became a bit rougher. Shelly took a shallow gasp any time anything louder than the cart made a noise, which with the bandits hollering and kicking stones around, was quite often. She had her head resting on one of Amber's legs, gently snuggling up in her lap. Or at least, she hoped it was her. The thought of one of the bandits using her as a pillow made Amber's skin crawl. Finally, the rough ride came to a stop, and Amber was dragged out of the cart by the ankles. They began leading her away the second she was upright, and her only comfort was hearing them bring Shelly along behind her. She heard a door creek opened, and the fresh air was replaced by a muggy dampness that stunk of something Amber didn't recognize. Up a set of stairs, a left turn, a long hallway, down another flight of stares, right turn. The directions where impossible to remember, and somewhere along the way Amber lost both her sandals. "Damn, they had a bunch of good shit back at the cop stop." One of the bandits behind her said. "I take it back; busting Jasper out was a good idea after all." "Maybe." This voice was much closer, almost right beside her. "But I'd say we caught the real prize right here." Amber felt a hand land on her butt, and she immediately went rigid. She gritted her teeth and threw herself in the direction of the voice. The side of her head collided with skin with a wet crunch, and the hand holding her left arm disappeared. A surge of adrenaline hit her, this was her chance! She took another step away, yanking free from the hold on her other arm, and bolted. She barely made it more than a step before something hit her square in the forehead, bringing her escape to an all too soon end. Good news, the impact had jostled her blindfold loose, so at least she could see. The bad news, there was a dull ringing in her ears that blocked out all other sound, and she couldn't seem to regain her balance. As she waited for the throbbing in her head to stop, she looked up to see an archway of a door looming before her. Her one chance to escape and she'd run straight into a wall; outstanding. Someone grabbed a fistful of her hair as the ringing went away, pulling her back to her feet and down a long stone hallway. Her head still throbbing, she didn't have the conviction to fight back. It was all she could do to keep up now. After a few more steps, she heard the whine of a rusty hinge opening, and a boot at Amber's back jolted her forwards. She spun around the second she got her balance, gritting her teeth through the pain she was in, only to have Shelly crash into her and knock them both to the ground A huge cell door slammed shut behind them, and one of the bandits sneered. "Sit tight ladies. Oh, and thanks for the view." Shelly, laying across Amber's lap, grabbed at the end of her skirt. "Don't look!" Some of the bandits laughed, piling their belongings into a chest at the other end of the room. Geno was dropped into another cell next to the girl's, still sleeping thanks to the Knock-Out-Shrooms he'd eaten. A larger man suddenly appeared in front of their cell with blood gushing from his nose, pounding his fist on the door. "Open the damn door!" He barked at first man. "I'm going to rip that bitch's head off." The laughter continued, lacking any sort of sympathy. "It's your own damn fault." The first chuckled. "You're the one who grabbed her ass. Next time, watch it." The one with the bloodied nose gritted his teeth in frustration, and the first added. "Besides, I don't think Django would like it of you killed the merchandise." The complaining stopped dead, even if the laughter didn't. Watching the scene, Amber couldn't help but feel a little pride watching the man's nose bleed, even if that was the only thing that came from her failed escape attempt. "C'mon." The older one waved them all toward another door. "Job well done, time to get hammered." As they began to leave, Shelly shouted. "W-wait! I need to use the bathroom!" "Tough shit kid." The older one yelled back, just as the last of them stepped out. "Hope you two are good friends, because otherwise that'll be awkward as hell for ya." Laughter continued to echo long after they had left, and neither of the girls dared make a sound until that too died down. Confident that they wouldn't be coming back for the moment, Amber finally broke the silence. "Shelly, are you ok?" "I can't see..." Amber looked down in surprise, only now realizing that Shelly was still blindfolded. It took a bit of work, moving with their hands tied behind their backs made finding their balance difficult, but Shelly eventually rolled off of Amber's lap and into a sitting position, from which Amber was able to flick her blindfold off. She blinked and shook her head a few times to get the hair out of her eyes, then began frantically looking around. "Where are we?" Amber shook her head, getting to her feet with only a little difficulty. "I don't know." She paced around their cell a few times, looking for anything that could provide them with an answer to that question. Unfortunately, the only view to the outside world was a foot-wide broken window almost six feet up the wall, and the only information it gave them was that it was still nighttime. "Do... You really have to use the bathroom?" Shelly blushed sheepishly and glanced at the floor. "Kat told me to say that... If I was ever kidnapped." Amber smiled in relief, at least that was one problem they didn't have to worry about any time soon. Straining her arms to get a look at her bindings, Shelly looked up again. "What are they going to do to us?" Amber said nothing. It was impossible to lie to Shelly, so she'd come to learn, but the truth probably wasn't something she wanted to hear either. "One of them said merchandise..." She continued with a slight shake in her voice. "Th-they're not going to sell us, are they?" Amber's short inspection of the cell ended when she came to the door. "It doesn't matter. We're going to get out of here before they come back." She threw her shoulder against the cell door, but it was a wasted effort. The latch rattled against the rusty bars, but held firm regardless; it was evident that they'd need a different plan. "Dammit..." She swore under her breath. Still kneeling on the floor, Shelly said. "How?" Amber took another look at the latch. She could've probable fit her hands between the bars, or Shelly could at least, but not with their wrists still tied together. And even then, they'd still need a key. "Armeria?" Amber called, focusing on their belongings on the other side of the room. "Armeria, are you here?" They both listened in anticipation; Armeria's shape-shifting ability's would be just what they needed to get out of this mess. A chest near the bottom of the pile jumped with a bang, and Shelly barely caught a scream in her throat. The chest banged a few more times, but the stack of wooden boxes resting on top and around it kept it in place. "I'm stuck." A muffled, monotone, yet familiar voice said. The girls shared a collective sigh of disappointment; of course it wasn't going to be that easy. Stepping away from the door, Amber knelt down next to Shelly. "Ok, see if you can untie me." After a small nod, Shelly shuffled around so that they where back to back and began picking at Amber's ropes. It took barely a second for Amber to realize that wasn't going to work either. Whoever had tied the knots had put them on the inside, between their arms and their backs, so Shelly's tugging was practically useless. "I'm sorry..." She said after a moment. "I can't get it." Amber glanced at the door the bandits had left through, feeling her heartrate increase. "Keep trying." Shelly gave one last tug, but it didn't change anything. "I can't do it." She shuffled away, straining her neck to look at her lack of progress. "I've got my Lacrima phone with me." No soon had the words left her lips did her expression change, and she turned to look at the stack of their belongings. "But... It's in my bag." Amber gave a disappointed huff; a phone would be great right now, if only they could get to it. Odds where she wouldn't have any luck untying Shelly either; the bandits had tied her wrists so tight that her hands where beginning to go numb. She thought about trying to chew through them, but they felt way too tough for that to really work. "Amber?" Shelly's voice pulled her back to the moment, making her realize she'd gone quiet rather suddenly. "What're we going to do?" Amber shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She was never the best at consoling people, but right now maybe Shelly just needed to hear something, anything reassuring. "We'll be fine." She began. "We'll survive. That's all that matters." Shelly nodded. "Ok..." Thinking again, another idea came to Amber's mind. "That fire spell you have..." She began, realizing how despite her attempts where becoming. "Could you use it to burn through the ropes?" A look of confusion came over Shelly's face. "Well... Maybe. But I don't want to burn you." Though disappointed, Amber understood her sentiment. Her aim likely wasn't going to be the best with her hands tied behind her back, and nursing a burn wasn't something she felt like contending with right now. All the same, it was something they had to attempt. "Can you try?" Glancing at their bound wrists, Shelly shook her head. "It's too dangerous." "Just try." Amber begged. She glanced at the wall of their cell and pointed to a point where two of the bars crossed. "Aim here." Nervously, Shelly got up to her knees and pointed at the bolt in the center of the bars. She looked over her shoulder to see her hands, then said. "S-Solid Script: Flames." A bright flash lit up the cell, followed by an intense blast of heat. A wave of flaming letters washed through the bars, dissipating a few feet away. The girls both winced away from the heat, Shelly herself seemed amazed at her own power. Unfortunately, it also legitimatized her fears that she'd end up burning them. "See? It'll never work." Amber slowly nodded her head in agreement. "Ok." She was more concerned about the noise their attempt had made. If the bandits came back to find them trying to break out, then their situation was probably going to get a lot worse. They'd need something else; a tool, something sharp, anything really. Unfortunately, the only thing in the cell with them where a few scattered pieces of straw and a couple stones. Not the most helpful items to have in their situation. With an annoyed snort, Amber realised she was quickly running out of ideas. She glanced up at the broken window, a small tease of freedom, to see the moon high in the sky. Suddenly she had an idea, a desperate idea. Shelly winced as Amber abruptly jumped to her feet. "W-what is it?" She asked timidly. "Get up." Amber ordered, staring at the window. "I have a plan." ---- "Amber..." Shelly mumbled. "Are you ready?" "Just go." She responded, trying not to let the doubt she was feeling show in her voice. Over the last fifteen minuets, the two of them tried several times to acquire some of the broken glass from the window, which would hopefully help them get untied. Neither one could reach it, so it was evident that one would have to give the other a boost. Shelly was the obvious choice; she was smaller and subsequently lighter, but this still came with a number of problems. They'd tried a few times to get Shelly standing on Amber's shoulders, but couldn't keep their balance long enough for Amber to raise more than a foot off the ground. And with Amber's hands going numb, she wasn't able to hold onto Shelly's foot long enough for her to even get close. That attempt led to their current idea which, despite it being her's, Amber was regretting. Shelly had her back against the wall, with Amber knelt down in front of her. Her foot rested on top of the ropes holding Amber's wrists together, and the plan was she'd stand on them while Amber stood up, using the wall to keep their balance. "OK..." Shelly mumbled, sounding not too sure weather this would work. "Here I go." She lifted her other foot, and Amber instantly gasped in pain. The ropes dug into her skin, and it felt like her shoulders where being ripped from their sockets. She did her best not to make any noise, but a concerned whine told her that Shelly knew what kind of pain she was in. She took a few sharp breaths, shuffling her feet to try and keep her balance, as well as give her something to focus on besides her pained arms. "Ok..." She muttered, grinning confidently through a cold sweat. "Ready?" "Yeah..." Shelly nodded. "Just... Be careful." Slowly... Amber began to push off the ground, careful not to go too fast. Not that she really had a choice, she was lifting a whole other person after all. But Shelly probably wouldn't be able to catch herself with her hands tied like they where, and hitting her head after a fall from this height wasn't a thought that Amber wanted to entertain. "Are you ok...?" "I'm fine." She said nervously. Suddenly, Shelly twitched, almost throwing them off balance and she cried. "Wait, wait, stop!" Amber froze, glaring at the door. "What!?" "I'm caught on something." She said frantically, twisting back and forth. "My skirts' falling off." Amber began to grumble. "I thought you said you wore shorts?" Shelly began to shake. "I... Changed after the train fight. I didn't think we'd be fighting again...” With a long sigh, Amber began to lower herself again. Sure, she was sympathetic; but the skin on her hands felt like it was being ripped off, so the quicker they did this, the better. After a moment, Shelly seemed to have unhooked herself and Amber began her ascend again. Finally, as second after agenising second ticked by, she was upright. "Can you reach it?" She asked, hoping to god the answer was yes. Shelly didn't respond at first, making Amber dread that this had all been for nothing. "Hold on..." She felt Shelly shuffle around a bit, every tiny movement furthering the agony. More and more, Amber glanced back and forth between the two doors, straining her ears for any hint that someone was coming. There was a quick snap, and all weight disappeared from Amber's arms. The relief lasted for just a millisecond before Amber dreaded the worst. She whipped around, expecting to see Shelly in a crumpled heap on the ground. She caught a scream in her throat, stopping only when she saw Shelly crouching down behind her. She hadn't fallen, she'd jumped. The relief Amber felt was indescribable. Shelly slowly looked up at her, turning around to display a small shared of jagged glass no more than an inch long in the palm of her hand. "I got it." She mumbled, before looking confused. "Wait, where are your glasses?" Amber spun around and knelt down, not wanting to waste time. "One of those guys took them back at camp." In truth, she herself had forgotten about it in the panic to get free; but they had more important matters to deal with first. "Ok, try now." She said, pushing her wrists at Shelly. With a small nod, Shelly began her attempt again. She rubbed the largest point of the shard against Amber's ropes, making a slight scraping sound as she worked. Progress was slow, but hopefully worth it. Shelly couldn't see what she was doing, so she kept having to stop and check, and the glass would occasionally skip off the ropes, which made Amber's heart skip a beat each time. Finally, one skip was accompanied by a sharp, cold pain. "Aah!" Amber gasped suddenly, despite her best attempts not to make a noise. Shelly must've realized what she'd done instantly, as she dropped the shard and almost jumped a foot into the air. "Sorry!" She spun around to check on her, and Amber saw all the color drain out of her face from the corner of her eye. "Amber, you're bleeding." "I'm fine." She insisted, feeling a warm trickle run down her hand. "Keep going." Even without looking, she could tell Shelly was not fond of the idea even before she said anything. "T-this is a bad idea..." Her voice was barely a whisper. "We should just wait for the others to come rescue us." Amber shook her head. "We can't..." Despite her argument, Shelly wouldn't budge. "Axel could find us." She said with a not so confident tone. It was more like a question than anything. "Or Geno. He could break us out when he wakes up." "We can't." Amber said again, louder this time. "Or Rift." Shelly continued. "We can wait for him to-." "We! Can't! Wait!" Amber yelled finally. A snort coming from the next cell startled them both, because it didn't come from Geno. Someone with shaggy black hair was draped across a small wooden bench, and a long black jacket in the low light was probably the reason why they hadn't noticed them in the first place. They didn't get up, but the disturbance made Amber realize that somebody could have heard them. She turned back to Shelly to convince her to keep going, but the look on her face made her freeze. Shelly's bright blue eyes glistened in the torchlight, and the usual smile she wore had been replaced by a small pout. It was the first time since their capture that Amber had actually looked her in the face, but the panic In Shelly's eyes was unmistakable. Running from the spiders in Telmer swamp, searching for Lir at the Omnison household, neither of those times seemed to compare to now. She looked like she was on the verge of breaking out in tears. Amber regretting yelling, but she had to make Shelly understand. "We can't just wait to be rescued..." She began. "We don't know when Geno will wake up, Rift doesn't even know where we are. And Axel..." She trailed off, feeling her stomach tie itself in a knot when she thought of him flying over the cliff. "Axel could be hurt... Or worse." Shelly nodded slightly, finally looking like it was sinking in. "We need to get ourselves out of this." Nodding again, Shelly cleared her throat, but her voice still sounded a little shaky. "Ok." Confident that she got the point across, Amber grabbed the glass shard and turned around again. "Turn around, we'll do yours first." Shelly nodded and shuffled around, and their attempt began all over again. This time it felt like they where moving even slower. Amber's hands had long since gone numb, she could barely feel the cold glass on her fingers, and the way Shelly was sitting made it a little difficult to guess where her hands where. They where leaning on each other back to back, but Amber didn't have the heart to ask her to move when she felt her begin to tremble. Minutes passed, and Amber had her eyes fixated on the door the while time. "Amber?" Shelly asked timidly. "I'm really scared..." "Don't be." Amber assured, trying to work as fast as her numb fingers would allow. A thought came to mind as she scrapped away at the ropes, something someone had told her when she was little. "No matter what happens: just keep fighting." Shelly nodded yet again, hearing that seemed to help somewhat. "Where'd you that?" "My... Dad." She hesitated a moment before answering, trying to focus on what she was doing. That and... Well, the consequences under which her father had to tell her that weren't the best either. She continued to scrape away at Shelly's bonds, feeling the fibers of the rope pop apart one by one and praying that they where making progress, when Shelly suddenly sat up straight. "Hey, have you noticed it always us who get paired up togeth-." "Shelly, give me a second." She huffed, getting tired of the constant distractions. "I'm just-." "Wait." She interrupted, shuffling away. She squirmed back and forth a few times, and after one slightly louder pop, Shelly held her hands out in front of her. "You did it." She said, regaining the cheer in her voice the second she saw her hands again. "Amber, you did it!" She threw her arms around Amber's shoulders in a tight hug, lobbing the flayed rope across their cell. While Amber shared her excitement, she wished Shelly was a little quieter about it. "Ok, ok, now do mine." She said, handing her the shard. Shelly nodded again and instantly began to work on Amber's ropes. Escaping and being able to see what she was doing seemed to do marvels for her confidence, but suddenly Amber heard something from the hall they'd been brought here through. She strained to hear it again, hoping she was mistaken, but it was clear as day now. Footsteps, a lot of them. Someone was coming! Next Chapter – Unusual Ally Category:Chapter Category:Chapters Category:Storyline Category:Paths of the Soul